TRANSFORMATIVE PLAY AND DIGITAL GAMES RESEARCH

JOSHUA TANENBAUM PH.D.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

TRANSFORMATIVE PLAY LAB

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATICS

DONALD BREN SCHOOL OF INFORMATION AND COMPUTER SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE

HTTP://TRANSFORMATIVEPLAY.ICS.UCI.EDU

GETTING TO KNOW YOU…

• I’m a “nerd-of-all-trades”

• I loves me some Sci-Fi and Fantasy

• I was into Steampunk before it was cool

• I’ve been collecting comics for years, and have been going to Comic-Con since 1990

• I got an MA and a PhD in Video Games

GETTING TO KNOW YOU…

• I also have a background in theater and music

• I was a professional singer with an Elizabethan Madrigal group

• I have a degree in music composition, and have composed music for videogames, concerts, and theater shows

• I’ve mixed sound in small nightclub venues for Metal bands, in professional theaters, and in large corporate meetings

GETTING TO KNOW YOU…

• I like to make things (and study people making things)

• I make steampunk props and costumes (which have won many awards)

• I brew my own beer (which will never win any awards)

• I’ve made short films for flash film contests, created board games, and developed interactive storytelling systems

MOSTLY, THOUGH, I AM A RESEARCHER

• I study games and digital narrative in general

• In particular I look at identity, empathy, agency, and transformation in games

• I teach game design and game studies (these are two different things)

• I use theories of method acting and performing arts for much of this work

• I also study maker & DIY sub-cultures in the context of HCI

• HCI = Human Computer Interaction

• I’ve done a lot of work on Steampunk making as a form of Design Fiction

• Design Fiction uses films, games, and other modes of storytelling to help people understand the possible impact of a new technology.

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

Marie Tsaasan: STEM Education, Identity & Representation

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

Marcel Pufal: Digital Survivalism, Fallout 4 (!)

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

Jamie Brown: Games to teach writing

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

Charu Chaudhari: Tangible Memory Objects and Magical Interfaces

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

Dan Gardner: Virtual Worlds and Governance, Identity, Cultural Ownership, and Fluency

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

Nicole Crenshaw – Naming Practices and Identity in MMORPGS, Impact of Design on Social Affordances in WOW

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

Thomas Debeauvais: Impact of challenge on retention in mobile games

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

Juliet Norton: Technological interventions for permaculture communities

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

Kate Ringland: Communication in Minecraft communities for autistic youth

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

Heather Faucett: Design for disability and rehabilitation

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

Anmary Leal: Design of digital systems for crafting, textiles, and costuming

I WORK WITH A GREAT GROUP OF STUDENTS

Marissa Gonzales: Games user research and localization

OUR LAB SPACE: THE LUCI STUDIO

OUR LAB SPACE: THE TRANSFORMATIVE PLAY LAB

THREE BIG IDEAS

• Big Idea #1: The way we look, feel, act, move, and speak can all change how we think, and how we experience the world.

• By changing these things (through the use of props, or costumes, or systems of rules, or scripts) we can change the way people think.

• EXAMPLE: Costumes and Masks as game controllers

THREE BIG IDEAS

• Big Idea #2: New technologies require a narrative in order to survive in the world.

• Combining a new DESIGN with a work of FICTION can help a broad public audience better understand and embrace that technology

• EXAMPLE: The replicator in Star Trek and 3D printers

THREE BIG IDEAS

• Big Idea #3: The Internet of Things is stupid, and boring: no one really thinks that sacrificing their digital privacy is worth it if all they get it a fridge that knows when to order milk.

• The interesting possibilities for the internet of things lie with creating new opportunities for digital meaning making and memory preservation by integrating the physical and the digital worlds.

• EXAMPLE: The Reading Glove, and the Pensieve Box

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

JOSHUA TANENBAUM

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATICS

DONALD BREN SCHOOL OF INFORMATION AND COMPUTER SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE

Possible Discussion Topics:

Acting Theory and Games

Costumes and Wearables as Game Controllers

Design Fiction and Storytelling

Steampunk and HCI

Tangible Technology and the Internet of Things